Pit bull battle: Oshawa woman reunited with dog

Scarlett was to be euthanized but release ordered by justice of the peace

Freedon for Scarlett

Ron Pietroniro / Metroland

OSHAWA -- Jane Nolan embraced her dog Scarlett moments after retrieving her from the City animal services shelter in Oshawa on April 24. A justice of the peace dismissed a charge against Ms. Nolan and ordered the dog released after ruling Scarlett is not a pit bull. April 24, 2012.

Freedom for Scarlett

Ron Pietroniro / Metroland

OSHAWA -- Jane Nolan embraced her dog Scarlett moments after retrieving her from the City animal services shelter in Oshawa on April 24. A justice of the peace dismissed a charge against Ms. Nolan and ordered the dog released after ruling Scarlett is not a pit bull. April 24, 2012.

Freedom for Scarlett

Ron Pietroniro / Metroland

OSHAWA -- Jane Nolan with her dog Scarlett moments after retrieving her from the City animal shelter in Oshawa on April 24. A justice of the peace dismissed a charge against Ms. Nolan and ordered the dog released after ruling Scarlett is not a pit bull. April 24, 2012.

OSHAWA -- Scarlett the dog is out of jail, freed after a ruling by a justice of the peace there's no evidence she is an illegal pit bull.

The four-year-old mixed breed was released into the custody of owner Jane Nolan Tuesday morning, a day after JP John MacDonald ordered Oshawa Animal Services to release the dog. Scarlett, held at the Oshawa pound since being picked up while running at large in September 2010, had faced euthanasia.

"Oh my God, I'm going to get her back," a delighted Ms. Nolan said moments after the ruling, delivered Monday afternoon at the provincial offences court in Whitby.

There was no allegation Scarlett was aggressive. What landed the dog -- and Ms. Nolan -- in trouble was an opinion by Oshawa Animal Services workers that the wiry, brindle and white dog is, or closely resembles, a pit bull. The Dog Owners Liability Act outlaws the breed.

Ms. Nolan was charged with possessing a pit bull after Scarlett escaped from her Oxford Street home and was captured in a backyard nearby. During a trial in December, court heard from two animal services workers who said the dog is an American pitbull terrier or some similar breed.

Jon Touw, the paralegal who represented Ms. Nolan, countered with an expert witness, Canadian Kennel Club judge Alan Bennett, who said the dog is more likely a Rhodesian ridgeback cross.

In his ruling Monday Mr. MacDonald said Mr. Bennett's was the more reliable opinion, noting that animal services had not sought confirmation of the dog's breed from a veterinarian.

"The court is left with a reasonable doubt," Mr. MacDonald said. "The charge is dismissed and Scarlett will be returned to Ms. Nolan."

Tuesday morning Ms. Nolan and Mr. Touw were at the Farewell Street shelter to pick up the dog. Ms. Nolan, 20, smiled broadly and embraced Scarlett as the dog leapt up to meet her.

An order issued by the JP had allowed Ms. Nolan to visit her dog once a week while the ruling was pending. But for the first time in a year and a half, Scarlett left the premises with her owner Tuesday.

"I have plans already to get her fixed and have her shots," Ms. Nolan said. "I have play dates set up for her already."â?¨ Expressing relief at the outcome of the case was Texie Torok of Storms Animal Allies, a local advocacy group that fights apprehension and destruction orders. The group paid legal costs for the court fight involving Scarlett.

Ms. Torok said it's important to challenge charges laid under the Dog Owners Liability Act, which she feels is flawed legislation.

"I'm dead against the bill," Ms. Torok said. "I don't think any breed should be judged just on its looks, and put down."